Competitions and other sections

The best of the art. Singular films that are artistically confident, well-rounded, and in their unique ways, universally relevant. An international jury of five jurors will award the best film as well as other films that champion the craft and innovation of filmmaking.

With stylistic integrity and courage, these films search for their own language, giving us signs of what the future of documentary film can be, helping us realize the present moment of reality, and of the art itself. An international jury of five jurors will award the best film as well as other films that champion the craft and innovation of filmmaking.

A testament to the power of exceptional non-fiction storytelling across media and technologies, the selected works for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction reveal the full spectrum of immersive art. An international jury of three jurors will award the best project in addition to handing out a special jury award.

The selected projects in the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling illustrate all the different ways to create stories in new ways to innovate and re-imagine the potential of interactive storytelling, often moving between the digital and the physical. An international jury of three jurors will award the best project in addition to handing out a special jury award.

The IDFA Competition for Short Documentary showcases a healthy boom for the short film form. An international jury of three jurors will award the best film.

An international non-competitive section for films with a wide range of styles and formalist approaches, from observational to personal to experimental.

An international non-competitive section for films that take an artistic approach to exploring the urgent issues of our time.

IDFA presents a retrospective of Guest of Honor Tatiana Huezo, whose films move between documentary and fiction, using close observation to explore how violence and political turmoil shape intimate lives and communities.

In her Top 10, Guest of Honor Tatiana Huezo takes her interest in cinematography as a starting point to explore how the camera shapes our perception of reality.

Dead Angle is a multi-year focus program that uses documentary cinema to reveal what remains outside our direct field of vision. This year, it explores the act of finding common ground: how people come together through solidarity, collective resistance, community and public space.

A spotlight on William Greaves, the pioneering American filmmaker whose genre-defying films turned the camera on Black history, collective struggle, and the act of filmmaking itself. 

The latest cinematic adventures of some of the most original filmmakers of our time. Signed celebrates those with a unique artistic signature, beyond the canon.

Prize-winners, public favorites, and high-profile titles from the international festival circuit.

Pushing the limits of the documentary form. A showcase of the year’s best experimental documentary art.

Documentary art across disciplines, presenting critically acclaimed VR- and fulldome projects next to live performance.

From the International Competition, Envision Competition, Luminous, and Frontlight, an international jury will choose the winner of the IDFA Award for Best First Feature (€5,000).

From the International Competition, Envision Competition, Luminous, and Frontlight, an international jury will choose the winner of the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film (€5,000).

From across the program, an international jury will choose the winner of the Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award (€5,000).

The FIPRESCI jury will choose the winner of the FIPRESCI award from the films nominated for the IDFA Award for Best First Feature.